CLEVELAND — The stench of champagne and stale beer lingered in the visitor’s clubhouse at Comerica Park for days after the celebration.

The party in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway Park couldn’t have been more cramped. Cigar smoke quickly filled the room at Rogers Centre when the Indians toasted to a World Series berth.

The Indians sprayed champagne and downed cans of Budweiser on three occasions last fall. All three beer bashes came away from Progressive Field.

Could the club finally celebrate a clinch at home this year? This week, even?

For as adamant as the players are about the day-to-day approach and after the one-win-at-a-time mantra, some have imagined a blowout at their home ballpark.

“We’ve thought about it a little bit,” closer Cody Allen told The Athletic, “but you try to fight that.”

The Indians entered the matinee Wednesday against the Tigers with a magic number of five, meaning any combination of five Tribe wins or Twins losses would seal the AL Central in Cleveland’s favor. So, the Indians could wrap up business in the division by the end of the weekend. And that would mean the first champagne-soaked home clubhouse at Progressive Field since 2007.

“When it got down to single digits,” reliever Dan Otero told The Athletic, “we were like, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be cool to clinch at home and have the fans be a part of it?’ ”

Otero enjoyed that sort of experience during his rookie season with the Giants in 2012 and again with the Athletics in 2013.

“It’s really neat, going back out on the field, running around, doing a victory lap with everybody out there,” Otero said. “So, yeah, that would be really fun. But you can’t look that far ahead.”

The Indians’ 20-game winning streak has vaulted the team to the top of the American League, and even within shouting distance of the Dodgers in the chase for baseball’s best record. A second consecutive division crown is all but a formality at this point.

“Once we got close to the Astros,” Otero said, “it’s like, ‘All right, let’s go get the best record.’ We know how important that is in the playoffs. We saw it last year, opening up here against the Red Sox as opposed to going to Fenway. That changed the whole dynamic of that series, in my opinion. We know how important it is.”

The Indians host the Royals for a four-game series, beginning Thursday night. After that, the club will trek west for three-game sets in Anaheim and Seattle. The clubhouse staff would have to lug the supply of celebratory beverages on the trip. The alternate scenario, though, would require the Indians’ clubhouse attendants to complete a lot of cleaning.

Of course, they were able to leave that chore to the opposing staffs last season.

“Let them clean up one time,” Otero joked. “I’m sure they won’t like it. That’s the downside of clinching at home. The next day, the locker room will smell like champagne. It would be a good problem to have.”

Top photo credit: David Richard/USA Today Sports

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Zack Meisel is a sports writer for The Athletic covering the Indians and Cleveland sports. An author of two books, Zack previously spent four years covering the Indians for cleveland.com and has been on the Tribe beat since 2011. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackMeisel. If you liked this story, subscribe today for access to all of our ad-free content. Plans start at just $4.99 per month.